This invention relates to communications between computers on a network, and more particularly to privacy issues relating to those communications.
Electronic networks allow people to communicate with each other efficiently over distances. Such networks have grown over the years both in size and complexity. Larger networks provide users with many benefits, because connecting to more people makes a network much better for each user. The Internet is an excellent example. Much of its usefulness comes from its size. Specifically, because almost everyone with e-mail is connected to the internet, e-mail becomes efficient for everyone because they can assume that a message they want to send will easily reach its target. In addition, the massive size of the World Wide Web also makes it particularly useful, because users can be confident that they will find information they need. (Finding the information may be a whole other matter, and is addressed capably by search engines such as the Google search service.)
Users of the Internet obtain so much benefit from being networked that they now want access to the internet wherever they might be. For example, users want access from their offices, from their homes, from stores (such as coffeehouses), from their cars, form hotel rooms and airports, and from any other place at which they may want to communicate with others. To extend their ability to use their devices (e.g., laptops, smart phones, and PDAs) in more places, users have increasingly been using wireless communication devices, such as WiFi or WiMAX devices. Also, public facilities such as coffeehouses have been making wireless internet access available, and cities have begun providing community-wide wireless internet access.
Hackers and other ne'er-do-wells may seek to tap into communications on a network. For example, thieves may seek to intercept communications so as to identify financial information or to listen in on telephone conversations (such as over digital packet-based networks). Others, such as hackers, may seek to obtain user names and passwords so as to later access resources on a network for malicious purposes. To prevent such security breaches, users of remote devices use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or other such approach to communicate with a central network such as a corporate LAN or WAN.